The White Bowl

The white bowl was actually once a part of a set of 3 bowls--one white, one blue, and one green. They were a gift to the big kids (when they were little) from my sister. They instantly were the favorite bowls--each kid had his or her own color and no one ever thought of using someone else's. The bowls were used for cereal or oatmeal every single morning for years. They were used for soup, ice cream, goldfish crackers, popcorn, and anything else they could think to put in them. Sometime, somewhere the blue and the green bowls disappeared. I don't remember it happening--could have been in a move, they could have gotten broken. But the white bowl (Jarrett's bowl) stayed around. When Joshua came along he fell just as in love with the bowl as the other kids had done. He asked for it every morning and it has been his bowl of choice since he started feeding himself.

This week he told me he doesn't want to use the white bowl anymore. He doesn't like how the cereal gets stuck in the straw and he thinks it's a "little kid" bowl. He would like to use one of the polish pottery bowls now; after all, he's not so little anymore.

It's true. He is 6 1/2, after all. The bowl has had a great run. And it has been a symbol, of sorts, of the spirit of childhood in our home. I'm not throwing it out, of course. When I look at it in the cupboard, I'll remember how much fun we had with the bowls, and think about how fast childhood really goes....